It seems a bit of synchronicity is in the air, with the Crosby, Stills & Nash concert tonight in Municipal Auditorium. Thanks to the 40th anniversary of Woodstock two weeks ago and the new movie “Taking Woodstock,” we’re getting lots of reminders of the fact that the trio’s/quartet’s (Neil Young joined them midset) second gig was in front of 400,000 muddy hippies.

Not to mention Stephen Stills’ famous quote about being scared, uh, “itless.”

I can actually boast of having seen CS&N before Woodstock. That would be Woodstock II, however, which was held in 1994 on the fest’s 25th anniversary. After having never seen the trio in its glory years, I ended up covering two of their shows in San Antonio over a span of 18 months  August 1992 in Sunken Garden and February 2004 in the Majestic.

Looking back on my two reviews in our electronic archives, some similarities and contrasts popped up. The set lists were almost identical, as was the format  mostly trio work, with brief midset solo moments for all three.

The main difference was, in the gap between the two shows, Bill Clinton happened, which explains why the 1992 show was far more political. Stills, who went to work for the Clinton campaign after the tour, attacked what he termed the Bush administration’s (that would be the first Bush, of course) politics of hate, then segued into Buffalo Springfield’s antiwar classic “For What It’s Worth.” Mentioning the impending GOP national convention in Houston, he said, “I don’t care what he does down in Houston, that son of a bitch is gonna get fired and that’s all there is to it.”

With Clinton in the White House, the 1994 show was decidedly less political.

Some other notes:

 The 1992 show was really hot. What a surprise, considering it was outdoors in mid-August. I must have looked really heatstroked or something, because some nice person I didn’t know actually bought me a Coke after watching me frantically scribbling and sweating.

 Both shows had lots of humorous moments  even the 1992 show, despite the political overtones. In ’92, a roadie was slow in getting the proper guitar to David Crosby for “Southern Cross.” Graham Nash joked, “When our guitar roadies screw up, David always threatens them with having to go to work for Neil.”

 The ’94 show had more stage banter, and the group seemed fresher, perhaps because they weren’t out in the Texas heat. They even managed to joke about Crosby’s little Huntsville interlude in the mid-’80s (he was jailed on cocaine and weapons charges). After someone shouted, “Southern Cross,” early in the set, Crosby responded, “We’ll do all the ones we can remember the words to, which is at least two or three more. It depends on which (brain) cells are holding hands with which cells.”

“Smile when you say ‘cells,’ ” Stills interjected.

&149; Though the sets varied little (except for the fact that the ’94 set was 30 minutes shorter), the Majestic show did offer one twist.They played Stills’ aching, folksy “So Begins the Task,” which he recorded with his side project, Manassas. Crosby said that that had “pissed us off” because Stills put such a good tune “on a solo record.”

 I had forgotten the the 92′ opener was Michael Hedges, whom Crosby touted as “one of the best young musicians alive today.” I wrote: “A fluid and energetic guitarist, Hedges seemed like Leo Kottke hyped up on red dye No. 2 as he danced and spun barefoot around the stage.” Hedges died in a car crash five years later, just weeks from his 44th birthday.